The ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) convened its 32 nd meeting in Hanoi on August 25.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar in the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March totaled 288,776, of whom 131,784 came by air, while 154,500 arrived by land across border.

The Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as "ASEAN");

MINDFUL that in 1992 the ASEAN Heads of Government declared that an ASEAN Free Trade Area shall be established in the region and that in 1995 they agreed to accelerate its implementation to the year 2003;

PREAMBLE

The Members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as  “Contracting Parties”);

Inspired to maintain, further develop and strengthen friendly relations and cooperation between their countries;

We, the Heads of State and Government of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Hanoi for the Sixth ASEAN Summit,

Emphasising the theme of this gathering "Unity and Cooperation for an ASEAN of Peace, Stability and Equitable Development" and recalling the Vision 2020 of ASEAN as "a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward-looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies";

The Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Member States of the Association of South East Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as “ASEAN”);

MANILA, Aug 22 Asia Pulse - Member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will draft plans, programs and other strategies to enhance and facilitate minerals trade and investments within and outside Southeast Asia.